James Mandel

Managing Director

James (Jamie) Mandel is a Managing Director at Rocky Mountain Institute, working in the electricity practice. He focuses on disruptive and emerging technologies, including solar, storage, smart controls, and microgrids. Highlights of this work include economic analysis of solar and battery systems, analysis of the value of distributed storage to reduce grid costs, and developing business models based on flexible demand resources. Jamie also plays a leadership role in RMI’s work with communities, which includes the city of Fort Collins. RMI worked with Fort Collins Utilities to develop a new, customer-centric business model and with the City to develop and pass a plan to reduce 80% of its emissions by 2030.

BACKGROUND

From 2009-2013, James was an engagement manager at McKinsey and Company in Philadelphia. James served Fortune 500 companies in energy, chemicals, manufacturing, and high tech sectors on operational and strategic issues. He was also a fellow in the Sustainability and Resource Productivity practice focused on efficient manufacturing in process-based industries, as well as developing new sustainability business lines. In addition to working with companies, James also served city, state, and federal agencies on large-scale transformations.

From 2004-2009, James earned a Ph.D. in ecology and evolutionary biology from Cornell University, focusing on animal movement patterns in response to changes in weather. Concurrently, James served as an associate with Advanced Conservation Strategies, a non-profit devoted to developing market-based solutions to conservation challenges. From 2002-2004, James worked for the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama as Systems Manager for an Automated RadioTelemetry System (ARTS) for tracking rainforest animals.

Authored Works

The electric vehicle (EV) revolution is here, and countries around the world have set aggressive EV goals and targets as a means to cut carbon, improve air quality, and accelerate a renewably powered electricity grid. The cheapest and quickest way to free up electricity for EVs is to save it…

Finance cuts across all of the sectors covered in this book, and is a key enabler for all of the recommendations. Regional governments operate at a scale that lends itself well to organizing and delivering financial solutions, and realizing scale benefits. These finance recommendations are highly variable, with…

Land use issues present both a great threat and a great opportunity to climate goals. Some 24% of global greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, forestry, and other land use, but this sector can also offset this impact by 20% by removing carbon from the atmosphere.

Real estate investors and owners can capture $290B with a simple, scalable approach to building energy upgrades. RMI’s new report reveals how a portfolio-based approach to energy optimization can uncover new sources of value left behind by traditional building-by-building approaches.